The left-wing weekly Documento published sensational cases over the weekend, including a list of people it said had been victims of the wiretapping scandal.

Among the names on the list are former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and members of the country’s current government. Shipowner Vangelis Marinakis, who owns football clubs Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest, is also on the list.

Predator surveillance software was used in conjunction with technology from the state intelligence service EYP, according to the newspaper.

Influential members of the conservative New Democracy government party were also targeted, according to the newspaper. The targets are said to be people considered to be rivals and possible challengers to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a possible future battle for leadership positions within the party.

The government asks for proof

The Greek government has tried to play down the case and points to a lack of evidence.

The claims in the article undermine the government and undermine stability, said government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou

– The evidence is lacking, said Oikonomou, who continues to advocate investigating the information Documento provided.

On Sunday, it became clear that the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into the disclosures. Documento editor Kostas Vaxevanis said he would testify in the investigation as early as Monday.

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Inquiry inquiry

Documento has close ties to the main left-wing opposition party Syriza in Greek politics. The newspaper referred to information from “two people with key roles in surveillance” and wrote that surveillance software was also used to eavesdrop on mobile phones.

On Friday, a committee in the European Union Parliament, which is investigating the wiretapping scandal in Greece and wiretapping cases in other EU countries, called for a more thorough investigation into the case.

In Greece, a committee was formed in the national assembly with the aim of investigating the scandal, but the committee closed after a month. Critics claim that the committee failed to call important witnesses in the case.

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Famous in July

The case exploded in July when Nikos Androulakis, who heads the Greek socialist party Pasok, filed allegations of an alleged attempt to tap his cell phone using Predator software.

A few days later, it became known that Androulakis was under separate surveillance by Greek intelligence, before he became the leader of the Pasok party, the country’s third largest party. Greek opposition politicians also sit in the European Union Parliament.

Two Greek journalists and other senior opposition politicians also claimed to have been monitored.

In August, the scandal caused the country’s intelligence chief, as well as a close associate and nephew of the prime minister, to resign.

The government refuses

The Greek government has denied that illegal software was used for surveillance. The government has acknowledged that Androulakis is being monitored by intelligence services, but without giving any reasons.

“Surveillance software exists in Greece, like the rest of Europe, but no Greek public authority buys or uses the software,” a spokesman for the Oikonomou government said Saturday.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis has pledged to ban the illegal use of surveillance. But critics have pointed out that one of his first acts when he became prime minister in 2019 was to bring the National Intelligence Service under his office.

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